Kashmir
by deathsweetqueen
Summary: In which Klaus is besotted with the new girl and Caroline wants to know how the hell she ended up in Viking times.


**Kashmir**

 _ **In which Klaus is besotted with the new girl and Caroline wants to know how the hell she ended up in Viking times.**_

 _Okay, so this is my obligatory time travel drabble and I don't really think there's anything special to say about this one that would constitute an author's note, but it's definitely one of the fluffier things I've written, and kind of short too (at least, for me). Be warned, there is smut here and some Viking-esque misogyny as well but not so much, but if any of this offends you, I suggest you scroll past. Oh, and by the way, my Viking name for Mystic Falls was a result of searching through Old Norse dictionaries for the translation of 'Mystic Falls'; from what I could tell, they didn't have a word for 'mystic', so I just went with 'mysterious' as a close synonym. One last note, when I say 'Klaus', I'm mostly referring to our friendly neighbourhood Original Hybrid, and when I say 'Niklaus', I'm mostly referring to human Klaus. In circumstances where this is not true, it should be obvious which Klaus I'm referring to. Hopefully._

* * *

When Caroline's eyes finally fluttered open, she almost wished that she was still knocked out, considering the anvil that was currently being dropped on her skull, again and again and again. A hand (female, by the feel of it) spanned her forehead and brushed her hair back against whatever her head was lying on. It was the touch that prompted her to pluck up the courage, push past the splitting headache and open her eyes. Only to scramble upwards and hurtle backwards.

"Hell." She breathed, because Esther Mikaelson ( _dead_ Esther Mikaelson) was leaning over her.

"There is no need to be afraid, my dear," Her smile was gentle, almost like she _wasn't_ the Wicked Witch of the West. "You're safe now."

"Safe?" She asked, her voice rough.

"My sons found you, unconscious in the woods. They brought you back to our home so that I may heal you."

"Your sons… your home… what the hell is going on here?" Caroline's voice was amusingly high-pitched.

Esther's voice lowered, sternly. "That is no way to speak to your elder, dear girl."

All she was missing was the wagging finger.

Okay, so maybe not such a good idea to piss off the chick that could turn her into a frog if she wanted to.

"Mother, is there something wrong?"

A voice came from the doorway and Caroline's heart sank into her stomach like a rock, because, unfortunately, she knew that voice. A myriad of swear words came to mind, but another admonishment from Maleficent (not the Angelina Jolie Maleficent because it'd be a shame to insult anyone with those cheekbones) wasn't really high on her priorities.

But, in her defence, _Klaus_ was standing in the doorway (or what, she guessed, made for a doorway in whatever ramshackle structure she had landed up in) with hair the same length as _hers_ , for God's sake.

Esther shot Klaus a reassuring smile. "Nothing at all, Niklaus. It seems our guest has awoken."

Okay, something was definitely wrong here. Even without first-hand experience, she knew enough to know that Klaus and his mother did _not_ get along, for lack of a stronger word.

'Niklaus' turned to her and his eyes roved over her, appreciatively, in a look that she was all too familiar with, which had her bristling. She opened her mouth to tell him, in no uncertain terms, to keep his eyes in their sockets before she pulled them out, when he smiled.

It wasn't the first time she had seen him smile, but it had her frowning nonetheless. But this smile was guileless, as if he were just simply happy, and all the admonishment choked up in her throat.

"You gave us all quite a scare, miss." Klaus said, gently, making his way to his mother's side. "It was by chance that we happened upon you during our hunt. I shudder to think what would have happened had we not found you."

Wow, she almost believed him.

Caroline cleared her throat. "Where am I?" She asked, fearing the answer she would receive.

"In the village known as _Foss Kynligr_." Esther replied, matter-of-factly, as she busied herself with Caroline's blankets. "My husband and I travelled with my eldest from the Old World and settled here, beside the waterfall."

Something in Caroline's chest caved in and she opened her mouth to ask one final question that would cinch her suspicions for her (but she really didn't want to).

" _When_ are we?"

Esther and Klaus frowned and looked at her, strangely.

Great, she had become the Addams Family.

"I do not understand your question." Esther said, slowly.

"What year are we?" Caroline repeated, hesitantly, hoping that her syntax was in her favour.

"It is Gormánuður: the slaughter month of winter, four years since the last festival at the Temple of Uppsala." Esther replied, promptly, but her tone was slightly lower, as if she didn't understand the relevance of the question.

If the crazy Old Norse words and references weren't a clear-cut _yes_ to her question, she didn't know what would be.

A hysterical scream built up in Caroline's diaphragm and it took everything in her to shove it back down before Esther had her committed – did they even have mental asylums back then (back _now_?)?

Well, if one thing was certain, it was that the next time Bonnie wanted to practice a spell, she was crossing the Atlantic for a couple of days.

* * *

How she found herself traipsing through a Viking village, on _Klaus'_ arm, in the freaking tenth century, she still wasn't sure. But right now, she didn't really have the means to question anything.

Then again, she was pretty sure that her fangs and her badass vampire eyes were still there, so maybe she did have the means after all.

"Tell me, Caroline, do you remember anything about what happened to you?" Klaus (Niklaus, as she was told to call him) asked, concernedly.

Caroline licked her lips and looked straight ahead. "I-I'm not too sure. I remember going for a walk in the woods, and then… nothing." She said, quietly, hoping that he would buy her half-hearted story.

Niklaus (and frankly, it did help with her hysteria if she differentiated him from the lovesick psychopath she was still dodging back home) frowned. "I don't recall having seen you in this village. Are you new?" He asked, curiously.

Caroline nodded, furiously. "Yes, I just arrived."

"From where did you come?"

 _Shit. Shit. Shit._

"France?"

 _Fuck, was it even called France back then?_

Niklaus' lips quirked up. It was surprisingly endearing. "Are you asking me or telling me?" He said, teasingly.

Caroline scowled. He always had to be a smartarse and ruin the moment, didn't he? "Telling you."

Niklaus nodded and then frowned. "I have not heard of this 'France'."

Caroline waved it off. "It is very far from here."

"And you came here alone?"

Caroline paused. "Yes and no," She said, carefully. "My parents travelled with me, but unfortunately, they passed away on our journey here." She explained.

Niklaus' expression contorted into one of sympathy. "I am very sorry for your loss."

Caroline pursed her lips, hoping her face didn't betray her shock at his genuine concern. "Thank you."

"Then, what were your reasons for leaving… this 'France'?" Niklaus asked, curiously.

 _Shit. Shit. Shit._

"Unfortunately, there was a plague that shattered our village. My parents, fearing for our lives, made the reluctant decision to leave our lives there behind and start anew in a disease-free land."

Man, remembering to speak like she was in the eighteenth century was a _bitch_.

Niklaus nodded, with much more understanding and kindness than she thought him capable of, even a thousand years prior to the Klaus that she was familiar with. She wondered what could have happened to him over the centuries to turn into the violent head case she knew in the twenty-first century. Something ached within her at the thought of all he could have become, if not for the mistakes made by others, unbeknownst to him.

A new, vicious hate for Esther and Mikael rose in her.

"I, for one, am glad you are unharmed." Niklaus said, gently. He rubbed the back of his neck, a shy smile forming on his mouth. "Someone as beautiful as you should not suffer pain, needlessly."

For some unexplainable reason, Caroline found herself grinning back at him for those words. She wasn't a stranger to compliments, and hardly not from Klaus, but there was something about him, standing here, shy and handsome and _human_ , that made her heart quicken.

There was a small part of her that wondered what she and Klaus (present-day Klaus, that is) could be if he were guileless like this.

"Niklaus!"

Caroline turned at sound of the cry and she found herself locked in place, her eyes widened comically.

 _Holy Mary, Mother of God._

 _Elena_ flounced over to them, an inviting smile on her pretty face, a smile she couldn't ever recollect having seen on _her_ Elena's face, back home. Although, she knew Katherine could pull it off pretty well. And that thought was enough to clue her into this stranger's identity.

This must be Tatia.

When Tatia reached them, she pointedly ignored Caroline's presence ( _rude much_?) and peered up at Niklaus through fluttering eyelashes, a dramatic pout on her face. Caroline resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

 _Seriously? Desperate much._

"You did not come to see me today."

Caroline saw Niklaus awkwardly look at her through the corner of his eye. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yes, well," Niklaus cleared his throat. "I had to attend to some… duties… for my mother."

Caroline took that to mean her.

But, obviously that wasn't a good enough excuse for Tatia because her doe-brown eyes darkened and her mouth straightened into a thin, displeased line.

"Perhaps Elijah will be more receptive towards my freedom." Tatia said, slyly, almost threateningly.

Caroline watched as Niklaus' face tightened, part in anger, part in pain, and suddenly, she felt angry on his behalf. She had the sudden urge to knock Tatia back on her arse (by the way, she _loved_ being a vampire) but she doubted that it would be taken well by both Niklaus and Tatia, so she resolved to keep quiet.

Niklaus' mouth twisted. "Then you should go to him." He said, quietly, definitively. "I grow weary of your games, Tatia."

Wow, she was actually _liking_ this Niklaus.

Tatia's eyes narrowed and she shot Caroline a withering look, as if she were to blame for the entire situation not going the way she wanted it to go, to which she rolled her eyes _again_ , because, honestly, like she had nothing better to do than to get involved in another doppelganger-brother drama.

"I do not believe you understand what you are saying, Niklaus." Tatia said, lowly, a warning clear in her words and her gaze.

Niklaus raised an eyebrow. "I understand clearly, Tatia." He said, sharply. "And, now, if you will excuse us, I must take Caroline back to our home," He paused. "And I am certain you have other work you could be doing instead of accosting me in the middle of the village." He admonished, pointedly.

Caroline wanted to laugh at the miserable look on Tatia's face.

Niklaus: 1, Tatia: 0 (those were odds she could see herself getting behind, for all that Tatia looked like her best friend).

Niklaus held out his arm to her, expectantly, and with just the slightest trepidation, she took it, ignoring the way his body was warm against hers, and he led her back to the antiquated hut that the Mikaelsons called their home.

* * *

"If I told you that I spurned Tatia's advance because you captivated me from first sight, what would you say?" Niklaus asked, gently, shyly, as they laid down beside the falls.

Caroline smiled, slowly. "I would say that your timing is quite convenient." She said, teasingly.

She didn't know why, but she found it easier to talk to this Klaus, _flirt_ even. There was no shadow hanging between them here. No murders, no unspeakable acts of tragedy that had her stopping in her tracks before she allowed that piece of her heart that _coveted_ for what he wanted to give her to rear its stupid head, and it felt _nice._ Surprisingly.

Niklaus chuckled, warmly. "Well, it is the truth. Timing and all."

Caroline looked at him through her eyelashes. "Is this wise, considering the extent of your feelings for Tatia?"

She had no intention of being yet another back-up for yet another doppelganger.

Niklaus stared at her, solemnly. "Honestly, I had considered ending my involvement with her prior to your arrival. Seeing you only cemented my decision." He hesitated, briefly. "I did not care for her… fickleness."

He looked down at his lap, as if ashamed to admit to the fact that the girl he had feelings for was two-timing him with his own brother and blatantly threw it in his face whenever she'd rather spend time with said brother, and she was struck by his vulnerability. She had the sudden urge to place her hand on his shoulder, at the very least, to offer him comfort.

So, she did.

Niklaus looked down at the hand on his shoulder and his gaze travelled up the line of her arm to her earnest blue-green eyes, his own circled with awe.

"Thank you, Caroline. Your kindness is refreshing." He said, sincerely.

Caroline shrugged, nonchalantly, even though his words sent warmth pooling in her stomach. "You deserve better." She said.

Niklaus frowned. "And you believe that?" He asked, doubtfully.

The lines of Caroline's face thinned. "No one deserves to be toyed with, using love as an excuse." She said, fiercely.

Something changed in Niklaus' eyes – an almost kinship of sorts – and there was a flash of anger in his gaze.

"Someone has hurt you." He said, knowingly, disbelievingly, as if whomever he was speaking of was either a fool or a madman.

Caroline opened her mouth, but shut it just as quickly. But her fidgeting hands and shifting eyes were enough to answer Niklaus' not-quite-a-question.

"Fool," Niklaus huffed under his breath.

Caroline hid her smile and looked at him again. "So, where do we go from here?"

Niklaus cleared his throat and shifted. "If you are not opposed, I would like to take you to my parents and inform them of my intentions to court you. Although, I do have to warn you, my father will not… he can be rather… he and I-"

At this point, he was stammering, so Caroline felt it necessary to cut him off before he delved into a panic attack. And before he decided to propose marriage to her, right then and there, realising that she may have walked into something without considering the consequences of her actions, which was actually very much unlike her.

She blamed Klaus.

As always.

It was easy to blame Klaus.

But _he_ was something that she did have to consider in all of this. She couldn't very well start a Viking love story with Klaus' past self and then go back to her own time and treat him with disdain as she had been accustomed to. He'd never let her live any of this down, that was, assuming that he would find out and she had actually travelled back in time, not merely just stepped into an alternate universe where present time was Viking time, unfortunately.

Sometimes, she hated her life.

And her propensity for flirting with handsome men ( _not_ that Klaus was handsome or anything).

But, right now, she had to admit that it may have gotten her in over her head.

So, what to do now?

Did she take the proverbial leap and reciprocate (more than she already had) what Niklaus was so candidly offering her? Or did she protect her heart – as she had become accustomed to doing – and put an end to everything that had thrived between her and Niklaus?

* * *

The next day, the sun was blazing over her when Caroline found herself pressed up against a tree with her legs wrapped around Niklaus' hips, his hands in her hair and kissing her furiously, as if his very existence depended upon it. Of course, Caroline wasn't doing much better, her nails raking up and down his back (with enough care not to draw blood because she didn't want to om-nom him or anything – and present day Klaus may actually snap her neck for that, the jerk) and fisting in his shoulder-length waves.

 _So much for restraint._

All coherent thought left her when hesitant hands scaled the skirts of the cotton dress that Rebekah had loaned her (quite happily, in fact – she was still getting used to having the Original Bitch as a friend, but this Rebekah was way sweeter than the Rebekah she had become accustomed to, so it was easy for her to give her the benefit of the doubt). She recognised his indecision, so she forced herself to slip out of that haze his touch had induced, and she placed a concerned hand on his stubble-ridden jaw.

"Is everything alright?" She asked, carefully.

Much to her surprise, Niklaus flushed red.

"I have not-this is the first-" He began to stammer and she cut him short.

 _Wow, virgin Klaus, talk about the Twilight Zone. Man, I can't wait to give future Klaus grief about this._ She thought, gleefully.

Her answering smile was soft and warm. "We can go slow, if you'd like?" She offered. "Or if you're not comfortable, we don't have to go any further."

He never took his eyes off hers when his warm hand slipped under the hem of her dress and slid purposefully up her thigh until it paused over the aching flesh between her thighs.

"Teach me." He said, lowly.

The look she gave him was hot and beaming. She entwined his hand with hers and pressed it between her legs, a shallow breath twisting out of her at his tentative touch. Slowly, his motions gained confidence and she was whimpering when he pressed his fingers inside her, her hips rocking along with his rhythm.

Her hand slowly trailed down the length of his torso, pausing to rake over the well-defined lines of his abdomen (she guessed that Viking chores were good for the body, no wonder Klaus had such a great one in her time) before they landed on the ties of his trousers, unlacing them with a deftness that had Niklaus smirking and Caroline tilting her head to avoid him seeing her grimace.

Her small hand slipped under the waistband and palmed his cock, her thumb stroking over the head, purposefully. He groaned against her neck, teeth raking, damply, across the line of her shoulder, and the cadence of his fingers inside her quickened. She shifted slightly, making herself more comfortable, and when his cock took the place of his fingers, her nails dug into his shoulders, not to the point of drawing blood (because wouldn't _that_ be a mood-killer).

His first thrust was slow and shallow, unsure of what he was doing, where he was going, but emboldened by her strangled cry of pleasure, he moved quicker, his hips rutting into hers forcefully (just the slightest bit awkwardly as well, in view of his inexperience), but Caroline merely tipped her head back against the tree, staring up at the sky as her nerves twisted sweetly to the rhythm of him between her thighs.

With their skin pressed against each other as close as one being could possibly be to another, she could feel when he was about to come. His muscles tensed and he started to tremble, his jaw a tense line, and his hands uncompromising on the lean curve of her hips, and she ran her hands up his sides, before spanning the width of his shoulder-blades, that primal part of her revelling in the reality of such a strong man inside her.

Niklaus' roll of his hips hit something blinding inside her and she choked out a wail that had her nails scrambling against the bark, tearing into it viciously. Her legs tightened around his waist and she was gone, muscles clenching and convulsing around him, gushing wet and satisfied until a few, last aching pitches of her hips were all she could manage and still keep her legs up.

Somewhat distantly, she heard his low growl of satisfaction in her ear, raising the hair on the back of her neck, his hips jerking into hers, shallowly, once his climax rushed over him. Her hand made its way into his hair, threading through, just as his head collapsed onto her shoulder, settling against the warm, damp skin of her neck.

Her eyes rolled upwards, as she heard the sound of a starling soaring above them. His hand deliberately stroked down her side, hot and possessive and content and triumphant, and she found herself wishing she could stay in this little sliver of time for the rest of eternity.

* * *

Days after consummating her relationship with Niklaus in the forest, Caroline found herself returning back to her own time. It was incredibly anticlimactic, however, and that led to some disappointment. She had been hoping for a flash of white light or even a TARDIS appearing out of thin air. Hell, even something like Outlander would have been better. But, no, apparently all she had to do to go back to her own time was trip over a root in the woods and suddenly, she was falling haphazardly onto the pavement, cursing loudly.

A hand appeared in her peripheral vision and she looked up, narrowing her eyes at an amused Klaus standing over her. _Her_ Klaus. Wait, not _her_ Klaus as in _her_ Klaus, but _her_ Klaus as in the Klaus from her time.

She felt an irrational anger surge through her and knocked his hand away, stumbling to her feet.

"I see you had quite the adventure." Klaus cocked his head to the side, his eyes glinting.

"Oh… get lost." She muttered, shoving past him and walking on her way down the street.

With an obvious use of his hybrid speed, he was matching her stride for stride in no time, the beginnings of a smug grin on his face.

"Come now, love. You can't just walk away. Not after all we've shared." He said, innocently.

She didn't buy the act for a minute.

"Go away." She said, through gritted teeth.

Klaus pressed a hand against his heart. "I'm hurt, Caroline. After everything that happened between us in the past, you treat me so harshly."

Caroline scowled. "I knew this was going to be a bad idea." She muttered under her breath.

Klaus grinned, boyishly. "It doesn't have to be."

Caroline chanced a look at him through the corner of her eyes and was surprised by the vulnerability belied in his eyes, despite the cocky smile that he had on show. She found herself softening, reminded of that afternoon near the falls, where Niklaus had confessed his more-than-platonic feelings for her, and she knew what had worried her the most that she hadn't wanted to admit was that she had been afraid that present Klaus would still see her as that unattainable conquest as he always had (not that his feelings in the present day weren't sincere, but there was always that doubt twisting in the back of her skull during every one of their interactions). But his eyes reminded her so much of Niklaus that she started to bite her lip in hesitation, her feet stilling.

"What do you want from me?" Caroline asked, her shoulders slumping in resignation.

"I want you to be honest about what happened." Klaus said, grimly.

"I'm not hiding anything." Caroline argued.

"Then why are you so eager to run away from me _now_?" Klaus asked, tersely, clearly exasperated.

Caroline threw her hands up in the air. "Because it's awkward now, you jerk!" She snapped. "Yes, I screwed up and slept with you in the past and yes, I'm regretting it now because it makes all the more harder to stay away from you now that I've actually _given into_ you, and I _literally_ just time-travelled onto the fucking sidewalk, so maybe you could give me a fucking break!"

"Whether you like it or not, it happened, sweetheart." Klaus said, solemnly.

"I'm aware of that." Caroline hissed. "I'm not… _denying_ … it or anything. I just need time to come to terms with it all, okay. Could you give me that, at least?"

"Caroline-" Klaus began with a knowing sigh.

"Klaus," Caroline cut him off. "I'm not rejecting you." She said, firmly, and was surprised by how much she actually meant it. She softened, lowering her voice to a gentle tone. "I just need _time_ , Klaus. Please give me that."

"And once you have time?" Klaus asked, sharply, his eyes warring with his desire to _take_ and his reluctance to _steal_.

Caroline snorted and her light-hearted tone belied her objectively-harsh words.

"Who knows? My decision _may_ be in your favour."

She paused and her eyes turned wicked.

"By the way, I can't _wait_ to tell everyone that I took your virginity."

Klaus grinned, shamelessly, as if the possible embarrassment didn't bother him at all. "Well, at least, I can definitively say you were my first love _and_ last love."

Caroline groaned, hooking her arm in his and dragging him along the street. "Why do you always have to be such a _sap_?" She muttered, exasperated.

"What can I say, my timing is _always_ convenient." Klaus said, teasingly.


End file.
